1905 Ontario general election

The 1905 Ontario general election was the 11th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on January 25, 1905, to elect the 98 Members of the 11th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by Sir James P. Whitney, defeated the Ontario Liberal Party, led by Sir George William Ross, bringing to an end the control of the government that the Liberal Party had exercised power for the previous 34 years.

Campaign
The main focus of the campaign was on the Conservatives attacking the Liberal "machine" which had dominated elections in the Province, especially between 1898 and 1904, and was involved in numerous instances of bribery and other corrupt practices. This was further highlighted by the fact that no Liberals were prosecuted for this, while Conservatives were involved in fewer such matters but faced numerous convictions. By 1905, this had led to widespread disgust, and one Tory candidate, P.D. Ross in Ottawa, declared upon his nomination that every honest man should be a Conservative.

The ensuing Conservative victory was overwhelming. Six constituencies returned Tory members for the first time ever since Confederation, plus eight others which had only done so once before. Most cities, other than Ottawa and Kingston, voted Conservative.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=5 | MPPs ! colspan=3 | Votes ! Candidates !1902 ! Dissol. !1905 !± !# !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;"|James P. Whitney
 * 98
 * 48
 * 69
 * 21
 * 237,612
 * 53.37%
 * 5.83
 * 5.83


 * style="text-align:left;"|George William Ross
 * 95
 * 50
 * 28
 * 22
 * 198,595
 * 44.61%
 * 5.04
 * 5.04


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 3
 * 1
 * 1
 * 5,362
 * 1.20%
 * New
 * 1.20%
 * New


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 1
 * 95
 * 0.02%
 * 0.36
 * 95
 * 0.02%
 * 0.36
 * 0.36


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 2
 * 100
 * 0.02%
 * 1.16
 * 100
 * 0.02%
 * 1.16
 * 1.16


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 2
 * 1,906
 * 0.43%
 * 0.29
 * 1,906
 * 0.43%
 * 0.29
 * 0.29


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 7
 * 1,273
 * 0.29%
 * 0.17
 * 1,273
 * 0.29%
 * 0.17
 * 0.17


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 2
 * 250
 * 0.06%
 * New
 * 250
 * 0.06%
 * New
 * New


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign
 * colspan="3"|Did not campaign


 * colspan="3"|
 * colspan="5"|
 * -style="background:#E9E9E9;"
 * colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|Total
 * 210
 * 98
 * 98
 * 98
 * 445,193
 * 100.00%
 * colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Blank and invalid ballots
 * align="right"|3,254
 * style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2"|
 * -style="background:#E9E9E9;"
 * colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Registered voters / turnout
 * 616,996
 * 72.68%
 * 1.87
 * }
 * 616,996
 * 72.68%
 * 1.87
 * }

Synopsis of results

 * = open seat
 * = turnout is above provincial average
 * = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
 * = incumbent had switched allegiance
 * = previously incumbent in another riding
 * = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
 * = incumbency arose from byelection gain
 * = incumbency arose from prior election result being overturned by the court
 * = other incumbents renominated
 * = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
 * = multiple candidates

! colspan=2 | Political party ! Candidate ! Votes ! % ! Elected ! Incumbent


 * style="text-align:left;"|Donald Joseph McDougal
 * 6,053 ||26.06
 * style="text-align:center;"|✅


 * style="text-align:left;"|George Samuel May
 * 5,904 ||25.42
 * style="text-align:center;"|✅


 * style="text-align:left;"|Dennis Murphy
 * 5,675 ||24.43
 * style="text-align:center;"|❌
 * style="text-align:center;"|✅

!colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Majority !colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Turnout !colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Registered voters
 * style="text-align:left;"|P.D. Ross
 * 5,596 ||24.09
 * 229 ||0.99
 * 11,726 ||74.01
 * 15,844
 * }

MLAs elected by region and riding
Party designations are as follows:

{{legend|#EA6D6A|Liberal}} {{legend|#9999FF|Conservative}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Independent Liberal}}


 * Northern Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Algoma: William Ross Smyth}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Fort William and Lake of the Woods: Thomas Smellie}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Manitoulin: Robert Roswell Gamey}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Nipissing East: Charles Lamarche}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Nipissing West: Azaire Adulphe Aubin}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Port Arthur and Rainy River: Hugh W. Kennedy}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Sault Ste. Marie: Charles Napier Smith}}


 * Ottawa Valley
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Carleton: George Nelson Kidd}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lanark North: Richard Franklin Preston}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lanark South: Arthur James Matheson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ottawa: George Samuel May}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ottawa: Donald Joseph McDougal}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Prescott: Joseph Louis Labrosse}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Renfrew North: Edward Arunah Dunlop}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Renfrew South: Thomas William McGarry}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Russell: Damase Racine}}


 * Saint Lawrence Valley
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brockville: George Perry Graham}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Dundas: James Pliny Whitney}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Glengarry: John Angus McMillan}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grenville: George Howard Ferguson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Kingston: Edward John Barker Pense}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Leeds: John Robertson Dargavel}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Stormont: George Kerr}}


 * Central Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Addington: William James Paul}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Durham East: Josiah Johnston Preston}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Durham West: John Henry Devitt}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Frontenac: John S. Gallagher}}
 * {{legend|#DCDCDC|Hastings East: Edward Walter Rathbun}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings North: Josiah Williams Pearce}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings West: Marshall Bidwell Morrison}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lennox: Thomas George Carscallen}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Northumberland East: William Arnson Willoughby}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Northumberland West: Samuel Clarke}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Peterborough East: William A. Anderson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Peterborough West: Thomas Evans Bradburn}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Prince Edward: Morley Currie}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Victoria East: John Hilliard Carnegie}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Victoria West: Samuel John Fox}}


 * Georgian Bay
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bruce North: Charles Martin Bowman}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Grey North: Alexander Grant MacKay}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Muskoka: Arthur Arnold Mahaffy}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Parry Sound: John Galna}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe Centre: Alfred Burke Thompson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Simcoe East: James Brockett Tudhope}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe West: James Stoddart Duff}}


 * Wentworth/Halton/Niagara
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Halton: Alfred Westland Nixon}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hamilton East: Henry Carscallen}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hamilton West: John Strathearn Hendrie}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lincoln: Elisha Jessop}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Monck: Richard Harcourt}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Welland: Evan Eugene Fraser}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wentworth North: Robert Adam Thompson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wentworth South: Daniel Reed}}


 * Midwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Brant North: John Henry Fisher}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brant South: Thomas Hiram Preston}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Bruce Centre: Hugh Clark}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Bruce South: Robert Edwin Clapp}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Dufferin: Frederick William Lewis}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey Centre: Isaac Benson Lucas}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey South: David Jamieson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Haldimand: Jacob Kohler}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron East: Archibald Hislop}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Huron South: Henry Eilber}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron West: Malcolm Graeme Cameron}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Norfolk North: Thomas Robert Atkinson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Norfolk South: Arthur Clarence Pratt}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Oxford North: James S. Munro}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Oxford South: Donald Sutherland}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Perth North: James Torrance}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Perth South: Samuel Nelson Monteith}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Waterloo North: Henry George Lackner}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Waterloo South: George Pattinson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Wellington East: James J. Craig}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Wellington South: Joseph Patrick Downey}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Wellington West: James Tucker}}


 * Southwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Elgin East: Charles Andrew Brower}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Elgin West: Findlay George MacDiarmid}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Essex North: Joseph Octave Reaume}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Essex South: John Allan Auld}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Kent East: Philip Henry Bowyer}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Kent West: Archibald Blake McCoig}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lambton East: Hugh Montgomery}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lambton West: William John Hanna}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|London: Adam Beck}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Middlesex East: George Wesley Neely}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Middlesex North: Charles Constantine Hodgins}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Middlesex West: George William Ross}}


 * Peel/York/Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Cardwell: Edward Alfred Little}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Ontario North: William Henry Hoyle}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Ontario South: Charles Calder}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Peel: John Smith}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|York East: Alexander McCowan}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|York North: Thomas Herbert Lennox}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|York West: Joseph Wesley St. John}}


 * Toronto
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto East: Robert Allan Pyne}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto North: William Beattie Nesbitt}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto South: J.J. Foy}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto West: Thomas Crawford}}

Seats that changed hands
There were 32 seats that changed allegiance in the election:


 * Liberal to Conservative
 * Brant
 * Bruce South
 * Durham West
 * Fort William and Lake of the Woods
 * Halton
 * Kent East
 * Lambton East
 * Lanark North
 * Middlesex East
 * Middlesex North
 * Muskoka
 * Nipissing East
 * Nipissing West


 * Norfolk South
 * Ontario South
 * Parry Sound
 * Perth South
 * Peterborough West
 * Renfrew South
 * Simcoe Centre
 * Stormont
 * Welland
 * Wellington East
 * York East
 * York North
 * York West


 * Liberal to Independent-Liberal
 * Hastings East


 * Conservative to Liberal
 * Glengarry
 * Norfolk North
 * Ottawa (both MLAs)
 * Sault Ste. Marie